Youths arrested for stoning Arab man's car in Afula protest, take “selfie” in police station

Arrests made at Afula rally commemorating life of local teenager Shelly Dadon who was murdered in May in suspected act of terrorism.

Youths take "selfie" while under custody.
(photo credit:0404 NEWS)

An Afula rally to commemorate the life of a local teenager murdered in a suspected terror attack became heated late Saturday night, with some participants throwing rocks at cars belonging to Israeli Arabs.

Eleven youths suspected of taking part in the violence were arrested by police, and three were ordered to be kept in custody overnight.

Of the three kept in custody two are minors.

The news portal 0404 News on Sunday posted a selfie that seven of the youths took of themselves inside the Afula police station before they were released. All are in a celebratory mood and according to 0404 they said they were proud of what they stood accused of.

Organizers were pleased with the turnout for the protest, which brought over 2,000 people to the streets of Afula to demand that authorities strengthen the sense of public security and stop the practice of releasing convicted murderers as goodwill gestures to the Palestinians.

The day after the protest, the cabinet approved, by a vote of 7 to 3, a proposal for a law that would potentially prevent the future early release of terrorists.

The bill, if approved, would allow judges in the sentencing phase to rule that the suspect would not be eligible for early release by presidential pardon.

Shelly Dadon, 19, was walking to a job interview in Migdal Ha’emek earlier this month when she was stabbed to death. Police say they suspect the murder was a terror attack, but have not commented on recent developments in the case because of a gag order on the investigation.